Although I haven't decided for definite on my FYP I'm fairly sure at this stage that I'll be making an animated short, more than likely using stop-motion/ Claymation. I am toying with the idea of CGI backgrounds but that would defeat the whole purpose of why I'm making a stop motion short, which is to physically build characters, sets and props and showcase my abilities in these departments. I can always make some CGI animation later for a separate show-reel. So far I have no definite script or story to work to, so I've just been experimenting with characters. I did some research on building maquettes with different materials (than clay), mainly silicone or foam and latex combinations. Having made an animated short previously (in second year) using plasticine I discovered how difficult this medium is to control. Though in hindsight the wire armatures I used then were much harder to manipulate because I was using steel wire. Having experimented recently with aluminium armature wire - which is much easier to use - I might try plasticine on this but I have a feeling I will eventually use silicone for my characters as it doesn't smudge or stain. I have designed a couple of characters to work on for now, a boy and a girl. Wanting to make oval shaped heads for some of the characters I decided to use an egg to make a plaster mould, which I would then cast the heads from.

 

 

I first drew a central line through the egg so that I could make two separate equal halves - which I would then join together.

 

 

I had planned to make a second mould over the first, and then fill the mould with silicone or something similar

 

 

I figured it would be easier to just cast two halves from the first mould using epoxt resin and join them together

 

 

I found a left-over piece of polystyrene foam from a previous project and wondered if it might work as a base for a head. I think this is a great material as it can be cut and shaped easily and is relatively solid. One drawback though is that bits can break off and you cant secure wires to it e.g. jaw armatures or support wire for ears.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I cut off the jaw and intend to re-attach it with some sort of wire hinge later

 

 

Eye holes were made by twisting a regular drill bit by hand

 

 

I have a handful of pearl necklace beads that I use as eyes

 

 

 

I forgot to align the teeth symmetrically and they are off-centre (which looks odd).

 

 

 

Above is a scan of the girl character, which I'm currently creating a digital version of. Naturally I will also do a real version for my stop-motion but I'm learning to model with 3ds max so I might as well use a design of my own.

 

 

The boy character is currently being made, I'm still working on the armature.

 

 

I had some aluminium armature wire which was made of three 2mm strands wrapped together.

 

 

 

 

 

The character drawing works as a template for the armature

 

 

 

Epoxy resin is used to glue everything together. Its very handy to use but sets after a minute or two so it needs to be measured carefully so as nit to activate too much in one go (which I did several times). Its not too expensive though this armature and head took a full tube.

 

 

M6 nuts were secured at the heels and toes as tie-down points, I used two on each foot for a more realistic walk cycle - such as when the toes or heel of the foot is off the ground. The bolts were used as a guide for the angles of the nuts, and to prevent epoxy filling the threaded holes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I cut off two of the three wires that extended to the toe nuts as it was too difficult to move (the toe section)

 

I researched a method of making hands osing 1mm aluminium wire which is first twisted to shape each finger.

 

 

Being short of wire I used some 2mm wire to extend the hand beyond the wrist

 

 

This is then joined together with epoxy

 

 

The wire is then sandwiched between some thin foam - this should be glued on but I didn't have any so I used acrylic paint. I had bought some quick-drying glue in a pound shop but it wasn't quick-drying and it didn't stick. They should have just called it water. The acrylic paint didn't work either so I tried pva glue. If that works I can do the next stage for the next post.

 



 

I used an old head from a previous project as a core for this characters head. I can cover this core, which was cast with hot-glue, with epoxy - mainly to spare the amount of epoxy being used. It already has eye sockets but I need to cut out a section for a moveable jaw.

 

I removed the existing steel wire neck support and drilled a new hole for the aluminium armature.

 

The three twisted strands of wire are proving to be a bit too hard to manipulate on such a small character, as you can see it caused the epoxy to break at the edge of the hip section.

 

The core with a section removed and a wire inserted for a movable jaw.

The head is almost ready. I need to cover the epoxy with thin foam as a base for tha next stage which is several coats of liquid latex 

 

A simple set-up to walk-cycle test the armature

 

I drilled a few holes in a wooden board for the tie=down bolts

 

 

A quick test of the walk cycle 9or half of it) proves that it'll need a lot of work. I think I need to change the thickness of the leg wires as three strands don't allow enough movement.

 

 

I tried a walk-cycle test with a wooden maquette to try and work out how many poses/moves I need